Demi Lovato says eating disorder made her 'manipulative'

Washington, Feb 3 (ANI): Demi Lovato has revealed that constantly trying to hide her eating disorder turned her into a 'very manipulative' person.

The 19-year-old singer-and-actress who entered rehab in late 2010 to seek help for her problems spent two years before that doing whatever she could to avoid people finding out there was anything wrong.

"I was a very manipulative person when it came to my eating disorder. You name it, I did it," Contactmusic quoted her as telling Britain's Glamour magazine.

"I would lie about already eating. I would lie about having to go to the bathroom. I would go to any lengths to make sure I was sick," she said.

The former 'Sonny with a Chance' star admits her problems with food go back to a very young age.

"I began compulsive eating at the age of eight. Then, when I started being bullied at 12, I stopped eating. I went from overeating to under eating to throwing up," she said.

At the height of her success, Lovato admits she could barely bring herself to look at pictures of herself in magazines because she was so uncomfortable with her appearance.

"It never really went away. I'd try, but the impulses would come back. You feel like you're on a downward spiral, but you have to fight through it," she said.

"I had real difficulty with my body image. It was hard to look at myself in magazines. My friends would say, 'Wow you look so gorgeous.' Everyone else was looking at what they thought as a beautiful girl, but I just couldn't see that when I looked at myself," she added. (ANI)